Amended statement- URGENT help needed

[Schoolworry]

Hi have started new thread - did add info to my current thread about reduced timetable but no responses so far so will try with this thread
We moved to new county 7 months ago and have now received a letter stating that the LA intends to make changes to Parts 1,2,3 & 4. A lot of it looks very similar to before but I have a couple of questions - when amending the sm should the LA be taking into account the advice of new professionals that have seen ds? EP has seen him at least twice and behaviour support/autism specialist wrote a comprehensive report of his difficulties but all the info about ds's difficulties remains as it was in the previous statement i.e reports from professionals in 2010. Also Part 3 states that school provision should be enhanced by the allocation of a ta for a total of 22 hours per week - does that sound too woolly and vague? Any advice gratefully appreciated as we have a professionals meeting this week. Thanks

Look at ACE guide to checking the Statement
Yes it should refer to current reports otherwise what was the point in assessing him. Yes it sounds woolly.
"should' does not mean 'will provide'
SEN toolkit on statement writing is also worth a look (Dept of Ed website) for wording.

Part 2 needs to be as up to date and representative as possible. Part 3 is based on what is in Part 2, so if part 2 is unrepresentative, part 3 is likely to contain inappropriate (and inadequate) provision.

Part 3 needs to be specified and quantified. It should say "ds will have x hours support" rather than anything like "should have", "would benefit from" etc. The actual number of hours of support needs to be stated, and it should list every single measure of support (eg amount of SALT/OT etc).

The recommendations of all the professionals who contributed to the assessment should be included - go through their reports, pick out all the recommendations they make, and cross-reference against Part 3 to make sure all recommendations are included. They should be. This is again why it is vital for the LA to use the most up to date assessments - and these should be listed in Part 1.

Look at the SEN Code of Practice too (sorry haven't got link but prob easy to find), as well as ACE guide.

Might be worth talking to Parent Partnership too if you think they are impartial enough.

Who is the meeting with - the LA case officer?

Thanks - I have e-mailed the case worker requesting clarification of a few points. The meeting I believe will be with the EP and Behaviour Support/Autism specialist to see what else can be done to help support ds. The professionals who contributed to the assessment are included - but these were from 2010!. The LA just appears to have copied most of the wording from the previous sm!

Not sure what they're trying to do here in any case. Afaik if you move county, you take your existing statement with you, so unless they (LA or school) have very good reason for calling an Annual Review, you shouldn't have one for another 5 months.

Anyway perhaps this is irrevelent - I guess this basically is effectively an AR? In which case they should of course be using the most recent reports from EP etc. And the new Statement should run for the full 12 months again.

The EP and Support worker who you're meeting won't be able to change the statement though.

When you move the new LA take on the existing statement but are also allowed to do a reassessment
SEN COP 8:115 The new authority may, on the transfer of the statement, bring forward the arrangements for the review of the statement, and may conduct a new assessment regardless of when the previous assessment took place. The new authority must tell the parents, within six weeks of the date of transfer, when they will review the statement and whether they propose to make an assessment under section 323

So its like having an early AR.
If you disagree with the Statement you will have a right to appeal.

agnes as ever I bow to your greater knowledge

OP ignore everything I've said!